


Pokemon Master

by LeDiz



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)
Genre: Career Goals, Definitions, Gen, Pokemon culture, Specificity is important, Talking about Ash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 09:02:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24348430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeDiz/pseuds/LeDiz
Summary: Ash wants to be a Pokémon Master. The adults seems to think that's fine and normal, which is dumb, because no one knows what a Pokémon Master is.Goh is annoyed, while Chloe seriously could not care less.
Comments: 24
Kudos: 333





	Pokemon Master

Poring over a dozen books, they hadn’t gotten very far.

Or rather, Goh hadn’t gotten very far. Chloe had lost interest after the first dictionary didn’t give them anything and was now focussed on her symbolism texts. But Goh was nothing if not determined, and he despised not knowing things.

It would have been fine if it was just some dumb phrase Ash had coined and no one understood, but Professor Cerise and the others had seemed to know exactly what Ash meant. So clearly a ‘Pokemon Master’ was a real thing. But the internet wasn’t proving useful. Every mention of it was the same as when you looked up what a mouse was. A mouse pokemon was a pokemon that carried the intrinsic traits of a mouse. But no one could actually tell you what a mouse was, or what those traits could therefore be. They were just mousey.

Similarly, when Goh looked up what a Pokemon Master was, even the forums that were dedicated to debating things like this were divided. A Pokemon Master was someone like Cynthia. Or Lance, except he was only really a Dragon Pokemon Master, which was different. Leon was specifically not a Pokemon Master, but he was the strongest Pokemon Trainer, which was also different. But none of them actually said what a Pokemon Master _was_ , or why Leon wasn’t one.

Goh was getting very angry.

“Ah hah!” he cried, holding up the one and only book which even made an attempt to explain things. “Here it is! Look! See?”

Chloe looked up over her book without changing expression.

“A Pokemon Master is one who has achieved true… mastery over… pokemon…” His eye twitched as lowered the book, re-reading the sentence. “What… what… _what is that supposed to even mean_?!”

Chloe went back to her text.

“This is so stupid!” Goh yelled, throwing down the book and shoving himself to his feet. “It’s not a thing! It’s clearly not a thing! No one knows what it is, so it can’t be a thing! There is no such thing as a Pokemon Master!”

He was greeted by a soft chuckle, and spun around to find Professor Cerise standing in the doorway behind the pile of books Goh had gathered. He set a hand on his hip and met Goh’s eyes with an amused gaze. “How long have you been looking?”

“Hours,” Chloe said, putting down her text to focus properly. “We can’t find anything.”

“You could have just asked,” he said, and stepped up into the attic proper, shutting the door behind him. “Well, asked someone other than Ash. Speaking of whom, where is he?”

“In the garden,” Goh said sulkily. “Training.”

Goh didn’t understand training. He knew battlers trained almost constantly, but he’d watched Ash a couple of times and didn’t really get it. He didn’t always have his pokemon fight – sometimes training was just going for a run, or dodging things, or moving in weird ways. It didn’t make any sense and Goh didn’t like it. Just like he didn’t like this whole Pokemon Master thing.

“Ah, that explains why I saw Scorbunny and Yamper following him earlier,” the professor said. “I’d wondered. Yamper doesn’t seem to like him most of the time.”

“He’s too loud,” Chloe said imperiously. “Yamper doesn’t like obnoxious behaviour.”

“Hey,” Goh objected, since Yamper didn’t really like him, either. She just gave him a bland look and the professor chuckled again.

“Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion!” he said cheerfully, and started moving around the books to join Chloe on the sofa. “But I daresay Yamper likes the opportunity to see battle training in action. It was a rare treat, before Ash joined us.”

“Yamper’s not a battle pokemon,” Goh said blankly. “Why would it be interested in training?”

He shrugged. “That’s one of the mysteries our lab hopes to uncover! But as for your mystery…” He looked around at the mess Goh had made. “I don’t suppose you thought to look into something a little older than the last ten years, did you?”

Goh stared at him. “Why would I do that? Pokemon Science moves so fast, you should always use the latest information available.”

“True, but Pokemon Master is an older term. It’s gone out of fashion since people started questioning the ethics of pokemon battle,” he explained. “Most people prefer the term ‘Pokemon Trainer’, but those of us in the Industry will tell you that’s a little too generic. We are all pokemon trainers, after all. Even Chloe,” he added with a grin that she didn’t return.

“I don’t own any pokemon.”

“You’re Yamper’s human, which makes you a trainer,” he said, and then went back to Goh. “To put it simply, Pokemon Masters are trainers that have dedicated their whole lives to the art of pokemon battle for the purpose of helping others. But that last part often gets left off in explanations, which makes them sound like Battle Trainers.”

“The _art_ of pokemon battle?” Chloe repeated, her lip curling slightly in distaste. “What’s artistic about making creatures fight each other?”

A few weeks ago, Goh would have agreed with her. But since then, he’d seen Ash battle. He’d seen the way Pikachu and even Mr Mime could dance around a field, their movements less like attacks and more like sheer power, flowing and enchanting the world around them. And Ash, directing them, often looked more like a conductor than anything, even when he was barking orders. Goh could kind of see the beauty in it.

“It’s an acquired taste sometimes, I admit,” the professor said cheerfully. “But even kickboxing is a martial _art_ , remember.”

She made a face, while Goh scowled, annoyed by the tangent. “So a Pokemon Master is a trainer that specialises in battle?”

“Not specifically,” he said. “For example, someone who battles purely for money or fame would never be considered a Pokemon Master. And, from the other angle, someone like Officer Jenny, who protects others—usually with a pokemon beside her—is never called a Pokemon Master either. It’s quite a complicated term.”

“So what is it?” he demanded. “And how come it’s not online?”

“Because times change, and the term Pokemon _Master_ is no longer an acceptable goal,” he said. “As the world has become more aware of pokemon sentience and intelligence, the idea of someone claiming complete mastery and control over them is a little less acceptable than it once was.”

Goh blinked rapidly, because in the weeks he’d known Ash, he’d never really thought of him as controlling. Even when he was giving orders, his pokemon were able to tell him they thought he and his ideas were dumb. Mr Mime _definitely_ called the shots in their relationship. “So you’re saying Ash wants to… control all pokemon?”

“Then he’s got a long way to go,” Chloe deadpanned, and Professor Cerise chuckled again.

“I doubt that’s what Ash really has in mind,” he said. “The problem is more the wording than what a Pokemon Master actually does. I imagine a new title will pop up eventually, and we won’t call them Pokemon Masters anymore, but the role will still exist.”

“And the role actually is…?” Goh prompted impatiently.

“As I said, the goal of a Pokemon Master is to _help_ people through pokemon battle,” he said. “To that end, they work to know as much as they can about pokemon, train to become the greatest battlers they can, and, yes, develop _mastery_ over the pokemon they will then use in their quest to help others. So, for example, in addition to being Champion of Kanto and Johto, Lance is a Dragon Pokemon Master, because he has incredible knowledge of and control over dragon-type pokemon, which he uses to protect people through his work with the G-men.”

“What about Leon, from Galar?” asked Goh. “He’s literally the strongest trainer in the world. The forums don’t think he counts.”

Cerise smiled mysteriously. “It’s not really the same thing. Some Pokemon Masters never even compete in their local Leagues, let alone the World Championships.”

“So then how does anyone know if they’re a good pokemon battler?” asked Chloe.

“That’s part of the reason the term got so confused over the years,” the professor said. “It’s not exactly an official position.”

Goh folded his arms, annoyance rising. “So then how do you know if you are one? How can Ash want to be a Pokemon Master when there’s no way anyone can actually say he is?”

“Well, it’s interesting you ask that,” he said with a grin. “There are actually debates in the scientific community about whether Ash has already achieved his goal.”

“Huh?”

“Debates?”

“About _Ash_?”

Chloe made another face. “Are you saying that all you have to do to be a Pokemon Master is claim you can understand it when they talk? Like, that’s control over pokemon?”

Professor Cerise chuckled. “No. It’s not about understanding, though Ash’s communication with pokemon is very interesting and I look forward to finding out more about it.”

“Well, I mean, he’s good at battling,” Goh said dubiously, “but he didn’t even know what the World Championships is. No way he’s the greatest battler ever, so it can’t be that.”

“Again, not all Pokemon Masters compete in official matches,” Cerise reminded them. “It isn’t Ash’s sporting career that has caught anyone’s attention. But it’s as good a point as any. Because there’s no clear-cut definition of what makes a Pokemon Master, it’s a difficult goal to aim for. It’s even more difficult to explain. And, given the current ethical debates about pokemon battle as a whole, it’s not something anyone particularly wants to define, either.”

“You keep saying that – what ethical debates are there?” asked Goh. “Pokemon battle in the wild; it can’t be unethical to battle for sport, right?”

“That is the main argument for the pro-battlers,” Cerise said. “On the other hand, some would say that since caught pokemon do not need to compete for food or territory, they have no reason to fight.”

“But they don’t always battle for any good reason,” he said blankly. “There are countless studies that talk about pokemon fighting for fun!”

“Ah, but _is_ it for fun?” he asked. “Or is it because they need to grow stronger, so that when they do fight for good reasons, they win?”

Goh stared at him blankly, and Chloe sighed. “Who cares why? Once they’re caught, and they have food and space, they can all live happily together, right? Like our garden.”

“An excellent question for another day,” Cerise said, before looking up at Goh. “But does that answer today’s question about what a Pokemon Master is?”

“Not really,” he said. “Not if no one really knows. But you’re saying it’s a really good battler that doesn’t do it for money?”

“Not _specifically_ for money, yes,” he said. “They do it for people’s benefit.”

He rubbed his forehead, because he honestly couldn’t see the point. But since his goal was catching a pokemon that most people said didn’t exist, he figured he probably shouldn’t comment. It was probably enough to say neither he or Ash were aiming for a specific career goal.

“Okay. I guess that’ll do for now.”

Cerise smiled and looked at Chloe. “And does it make sense to you, too?”

“Sure,” she said, picking up her book again. “But I don’t really care. It doesn’t matter to me, after all.”

“I’m not sure anything does,” Goh muttered, folding his arms, and Chloe glared at him.

“Just because I’m not so obsessed that I –”

“Alright, alright,” the professor cut them both off, lifting his hand. “I actually came up here to ask if you would be interested in having an early dinner. There’s been a lot of discussion in the lab about barbeque this afternoon and we were thinking about going to get some.”

They blinked, exchanged glances, and then shrugged. “Sure.”

“Great. We’ll leave in about half an hour. Goh, could you go and find Ash, please? I need to call home and let them know we won’t need dinner.”

He nodded and turned, only to remember his pile of books and stop. “Uh, I guess I should clean all this up…”

“It can wait until after dinner,” he said, pulling out his phone. “Don’t get distracted with Ash, alright?”

He nodded, stepped over the pile, and headed out.

So a Pokemon Master was a real thing, but not a real job. He frowned as he trotted down the steps, trying to sort it out in his head. It was a role. Like something people did. But they didn’t get paid. So a title, maybe? Only it didn’t get awarded. It was just something you _were_. But it was apparently real enough that a few years ago, it was enough of a thing that people just… accepted it as a goal.

And it was what Ash wanted to be, huh?

He sighed, wishing Ash was better at explaining things. Ash seemed to think being a research fellow would be a good step on his journey to becoming a Pokemon Master, so maybe if Goh watched and listened carefully, he could figure out what Ash was really interested in about their job. Maybe that would explain it.

Or, of course, maybe he’d go crazy enough listening to Ash talk nonsense that one day he’d actually understand the guy.

“One of the two will definitely happen,” he said, clenching a fist. “That’s a future I can… hold… ugh. I’m not sure that’s a future I want to hold in my hand.”

Oh well. It was something interesting to figure out, anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> NOT part of the 48 because I wrote it this morning. Still not edited though! Mwuahaha. Debating making this a prologue of a thing. If so, it will likely move. But anyway.
> 
> So. What even is a Pokémon Master? I bet you fifty internet points that not even Game Freak knows anymore.


End file.
